Florida man abandons son on highway because he thinks boy is gay, police say

Thirty-year-old Evenaud Julmeus faces three counts of child abuse after abandoning his son on a highway because he thought the boy was gay, police said. (Source: Polk County Jail)

December 4, 2019 at 9:41 AM CST - Updated December 4 at 2:55 PM

HAINES CITY, Fla. (Gray News) - A 30-year-old Florida man faces three counts of child abuse after abandoning his son on a highway, police said.

According to an arrest affidavit reviewed by Bay News 9, Evenaud Julmeus found the boy watching male pornography on his cell phone, so he made him pack a bag and get in the car. He allegedly told the boy the Haines City Police Department would find him a new home.

Police said Julmeus drove to a turn lane near police headquarters where an onlooker witnessed him abandon the child. Julmeus pulled off leaving the young boy in tears without food, a phone or money, the affidavit said.

The affidavit withheld the boy’s age, but investigators told Fox News he is a preteen.

When the boy’s mom got home, she asked Julmeus where her son was. He allegedly told her she’d find him at the police department.

While she went to go find the boy, she left two other young children in Julmeus’ care, investigators said. But by the time officers arrived at his home, police said he had fled, leaving the children unsupervised.